xxxHOLiC Kei ep.07

May 16, 2008 | 14 Comments

This is one of my favorite HOLiC stories because it's a straight up horror stories that the series often do a good job of. I can't help but being creep out everytime I see the figure that Watanuki see from outside the house. Although realistically, how many people would actually go in and investigate said figure in real life? I'd personally leave it alone. This is one thing that characters in horror stories like this one can't seem to grasp or understand. Instead of just staying away from it, they have the need to investigate it, which of course, leads them to experiencing the horror. Of course, if they didn't go in, then there wouldn't be a horror story in the first place. In a way, horror stories relies on its characters to investigate the very thing that terrorize them, in the process, they get terrorized even more. Anyway, to celebrate another creepy story, I decide to recycle the idea that I used in Episode 10 of xxxHOLiC. I basically told a horror story and asked others to do the same. You don't have to if you can't but it'd be good if you can because sharing horror stories is fun in that creepy kind of way.

Episode 7

Summer time means Yuuko gets to enjoy outdoor shower while Watanuki gets to be the one who pumps the water. In the midst of doing his job, Neko-Musume suddenly comes out of nowhere and falls flat on Watanuki's back. Moro and Maru try to spray water at Neko-Musume but she manages to run away, leaving Watanuki to be the one who gets soaked wet. As it turns out, Neko-Musume has come to give Yuuko an egg. In exchange, she wants a particular water from a well located within a mansion. Yuuko wonders why Neko-Musume asks for water since she dislikes water. Despite this, Neko-Musume won't disclose the reason. Yuuko doesn't mind so she orders Watanuki to tag along with Neko-Musume so he can get the water. Since Neko-Musume refuses to get the water herself, Watanuki has no choice but to climb over the wall and commit a trespassing. In doing so, he notices that someone is sitting near the window causing him to wonder if this person saw them climbed over the wall. Much to his surprise, the person doesn't say anything.

Because of this, Watanuki goes on with his job of taking water from the well. After doing so, however, he feels chills down his spine and when he looks back into the window, he can see the shape of a woman behind the curtains that covered her face. Later on, Watanuki complains that for some reason that pot was really heavy although he understands that water can get very heavy sometimes. Unfortunately for Watanuki, Yuuko needs him to get more pots of water from that well. Since Watanuki don't want to go back and forth that many times, Yuuko suggests that he carries two pots at once. When Watanuki points out that would be difficult, Yuuko suggests that he goes with someone. Watanuki refuses to bring Mokona for fear and he doesn't want to ask Himawari to carry heavy pots. As a result, the only perfect option left is to ask Doumeki to help him. When the two get there, however, Wantauki once again notice that the same woman who sat by the window is still there. In fact she wears the same dress and hat just like the other day.

Watanuki then blocks Doumeki's right eye, to see if Doumeki can still see her with just his left eye. Much to his surprise, that seems to be the case. When Doumeki asks him if he felt something, Watanuki only tells the guy that he just felt a chill. Because of this, the two decide to just take the water as soon as possible. The next day, Watanuki describes the situation to Himawari, prompting Doumeki to point out that he had a feeling that he 'knows' that woman, as in he's seen someone like her before. Watanuki who's still disturbed about this, wants to know why Neko-Musume needs the water but Yuuko doesn't know either. Yuuko also finds it strange that the woman that Watanuki described would wear the same clothing in summer kind of heat. The day after, Himawari asks Watanuki if they can go home together but Watanuki refuses since he has to take the water for one more time. Himawari is slightly disappointed to hear this. However, when she notices Watanuki's lack of enthusiasm, she becomes worried and offers to take the water with him.

Watanuki, however, politely declines so Himawari asks him to promise her not to push himself too hard. Watanuki agrees and the two seal the deal by Yubikiri (pinky swear). In this instant, Watanuki feels something weird but can't figure out what actually transpired. That night when Watanuki takes more water with Doumeki, he feels a small sensation of pain in his pinky finger so he drops the wrapping cloth, causing it to be flown into the window where the woman is sitting. Because Watanuki thinks the cloth might be important and has been used to wrap the pots all of these times, Doumeki suggests that they go inside to get it back. After not getting any response depite pressing the door bell several times, the two decide to get in since the door is not locked from inside. Much to their shock, the interior of the house looks like it's been abandoned for years. There are dirts and cobwebs everywhere and some furnitures are already broken. Outside the house, Neko-Musume gets closer to the well and upon looking inside the well, she seems to recognize something.

Inside the house, Watanuki and Doumeki enters another door but when they're inside, Watanuki trips on something and is separated from Doumeki. He eventually arrives at a living room when someone taps him from behind. As it turns out the person is just Doumeki and he points out at a stairs not far from them. When they get up there, they find the woman still sitting in the same position. As they get closer, a wind blows and topples the woman from the chair, leaving her sprawling on the floor. Watanuki thinks that just as he thought, the woman is a doll. Much to his surprise, he can hear Yuuko's voice from behind him wondering what that could be. Apparently Yuuko wants to make sure of something so she's decided to come. She points out that Doumeki's opinion about that woman is probably different from Watanuki's. Doumeki admits that ever since a kid, he's recognized lifeless body like hers to be a corpse. Watanuki doesn't believe this because he thinks corpses would either rot or smell in this kind of heat. Doumeki, however, points out that corpses these days don't rot.

In the olden days, his grandfather used to have difficulty keeping bodies at temple (prior to a funeral) from rotting during summer/rainy season. These days, however, people eat foods that contain artifical coloring and preservatives everyday. The chemicals build up in people's body overtime and acts as preservative for the body itself. Yuuko agrees and points out that these days when people die, their body don't rot and return to earth as easily. She then asks Watanuki to take a look outside the windows. Thanks to Watanuki and Doumeki taking all of the waters from the well, the corpse of a kitten that sank to the bottom of the well could be pulled up. Watanuki theorizes that the woman probably was waiting for the kitten to come back everyday. In the aftermath, Watanuki remembers that it all started because he felt a pain sensation on his pinky fingers. Despite this, he believes this has nothing to do with Himawari and the whole thing was just a coincidence. Neko-Musume then comes to thank Yuuko since she was worried about that kitten. Yuuko doesn't mind because the egg that she got as a payment will be necessary in the future. This causes Neko-Musume to wonder what happened to Watanuki's finger.

Impression

What a horrific and sad story about a dead woman and her dead kitten. This is one of the few times where I am actually happy with the changes that is made into the story. Well, sort of. It depends whether you want to see the crossover with Tsubasa Chronicle or not. It's obvious now that the writers don't want to have a crossover with Tsubasa Chronicle at all. They basically change the story a little bit. This time around, the egg (which would be pivotal in Himawari's arc) comes from Neko-Musume and in return, she wants the water from the well for an unspecified reason. That is, until it's revealed that she sensed that there's a dead kitten at the bottom of the well. Since she's a cat, she also hates water and can't do anything about it. However, thanks to Watanuki and Doumeki taking out all of the water from the well, she can jump down into the well and recover the kitten's corpse. At any rate, this eliminate the need to tell the audiences that the water is actually needed by Shaoran and the others in Tsubasa Chronicle.

I have no idea if what Doumeki said about chemicals in our food affecting the decomposition of a corpse is true or not. Most people, however, are probably aware that the majority of our foods have added chemicals in it. For example, some chickens have been injected with hormones so that they'd look fatter than a normal, free-range chickens. The next time you go to an aisle of a supermarket and see a seemingly plump, juicy chicken drumstick, you may want to reconsider it because while the chicken was alive, it was probably injected with hormones to make it look fatter. Having said that, is your body not discomposing after you die is such a bad thing? I mean, if you're already dead then you won't feel a thing. And if your body stays intact as it were when you're still alive then at least your loved ones would be able to see you every now and then, especially if they put your corpse in a glass casket like Snow White. In a way it's like mummification - The Egyptian did it years ago. Joking aside, do most people prefer to decompose normally after one dies?

Campfire Tales

Story 1: An overweight guy was known to come to his workplace very early and didn't leave until late at night. Others believed that the guy probably slept at the office every now and then since sometimes he's already in the office when others come earlier than usual. The thing is, no one really bothered to know this guy and he was not a very social person either. In addition to this, he sat in partitioned booth, away from the others, so not many people noticed his presence. The wonders of our electronic communication also ensured that his supervisor only had minimal interaction with him while the rest were done through emails. One morning, around 3am, a cleaner came to the office to do his job as usual. When he got there, he noticed that the guy was still sitting there in the corner. Since the cleaner didn't want to bother the guy, he just went on with his job. Eventually, however, he had to clean up the area so he tapped the guy on the shoulder. At this point, the overweight guy lost his balance and fell off his chair, revealing that he's been dead for a while.

Story 2: A man was staying alone at an off-road motel room when he heard scratching noises coming from somewhere. At first he thought it's the branches outside the window but when he opened the curtain, he found that there were no vegetations outside the window. The man found this strange but decided to ignore it since the noise has stopped. A few minutes later, however, the noise came back. This time, he realized that it comes from the bathroom. When he opened the bathroom, however, he couldn't find anything either. Nevertheless, he's freaked out and decided to report the incident to the motel manager. Upon hearing this, the manager and a cleaner looked at each other in horror. The two explained that there was a woman who got murdered in that bathroom by her lover. In her attempt to get away, the victim tried to reach the door and latched onto it because the murderer tried to drag her legs. In the process, she scratched the wooden door with her nails before she got murdered. Ever since then, other guests sometimes hear noises coming from that bathroom.

Preview

Next week's episode: Yay! More ghost story!!

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